Does scratching count as self harm if I don't bleed?
280 Answers
Last Updated: 11/20/2022 at 4:23pm
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Jennifer Patterson, LMFT
Art Therapist
Life can be messy. Sometimes you need a little support to make your way through it. I love to help guide people through their challenges & to find the beauty in our messes.
Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
December 23rd, 2015 11:14pm
Well, it depends on the certain way you are scratching yourself. If you are trying to harm yourself by doing a less aggressive type of body harm like scratching for example, then yes that does count a self harm.
Anonymous
December 23rd, 2015 11:55pm
Anything that is harmful to your body will count as self harm, there does not need to be blood involved.
Yes! If you are scratching to hurt yourself, that is. If you are just scratching at your skin because it is itchy, that's different. If you are using scratching as a coping method, it is probably self harm and a compulsive behavior.
Anonymous
December 24th, 2015 8:29am
yes. It does you are hurting yourself by scratching yourself. It may seem minor but it is still self harm. STAY STRONG
Of course it does. Self harm doesn't have to be severe. It can be as little as digging nails into your arm or simply scratching a lot. It's still harming yourself intentionally.
Well if you intend to do it for a reason then yes. Even if it doesn't bleed you are harming yourself. Scratching yourself if you have an itch isn't though.
It still count just as much! Any type of thing you do on purpose which causes you pain is self harm...
Yeah, the act of causing yourself physical or emotional pain constitutes self harm in my opinion. Theres a lot of people that don't draw blood because of how noticeable the scars it leave are.
Any form of hurting yourself is self-harm. Get help and stay strong :) I know it may feel hopeless but you can make it through this!
Only if the intention was to make yourself feel pain , any time of harming that you are expecting pain from could be classified as self harm
If was an accident and you don't want make you harm, no. But if you feel so stressed, sad, or feeling just like you make yourself bleed, it count like self harm. Is the intention what define the act. If your intention was make harm to yourself no matter the way you do, there are many ways to harm yourself and not all makes you bleed! When you feel you want to self harm try to focus on another activity, like writte what you feel, you could go out and walk, listen music, or something you like to do. Maybe sounds stupid, because in that moments when you feel bad you will not feel like doing something makes you feel well, but try! It really Works!
Well, I think that if the intentions are to cause harm to yourself then yes it is, because the reasons behind it are there
Yes. Any time you feel the need to physically harm your body as a way of coping with pain is considered self-harm.
If you are causing yourself pain to make yourself feel better about something, it's self-harm. The fact that you don't bleed doesn't really change that.
self harm doesnt have to be bleeding, scratching, burning yourself, pinching your skin, and purposely causing bruises are also common
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 1:25am
Self harm doesn't just involve making yourself bleed, anything that you do to intentionally hurt yourself is counted as self harm.
If you do it with intention of harm then, yes. If you are doing it to harm yourself then, yes. Your intentions determine the situation.
Any form of self inflicted pain is self harm, whether it results in bleeding or not. So yes, scratching does count as self harm. I hope that you'll receive some form of support for this
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 6:43am
Yes, you're harming your body by scratching. There are many forms of self harm that don't involve bleeding.
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 9:03am
Yes, any intentional harm to your body is self-harm. Hurting yourself in any way shape or form, is serious. Even just thinking about is very serious.
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 2:42pm
Yes, some way you are looking to inflict some type of pain although you may not bleed but scratching without and itch is the first step of self harm which leads to more self inflicting pain. That can't undo the hurt within.
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 3:22pm
Yes. It's not a requirement for you to bleed so you can call it self-harm. Inflicting pain on yourself, with blood or not, is still self-harm.
it does count as self harm as long as you're tempting to hurt yourself are distract yourself from your mental pain by a physical one
Yes. Not all types of self harm require blood. Of course, no bleeding is preferable to bleeding, but it's still self harm.
If you're scratching yourself on purpose in order to feel pain, then yes it is self-harm. Self-harm doesn't need to hurt you. It's everything you do with a purpose for yourself to feel pain.
Anonymous
December 31st, 2015 2:31am
No, scratching does not count as self harm. People scratch themselves because they are itchy. But if you scratch yourself to the point where you bleed it can be counted as self harm.
Anonymous
December 31st, 2015 3:42am
I used to do this ... and, if you are like me, it was the physical pain that distracted from the emotional pain, regardless of what method was used. That being said, if you're using physical pain as a means of coping with emotional pain - putting a label on it doesn't change the fact that you are truly hurting inside. I hope you find a healthy way to cope with that pain while you heal emotionally. . .
Yes, it unfortunately does. Scratching is a behavior intended to cause pain. It can be dangerous. Even if it's not bleeding right now, you may cause bleeding if you continue scratching. This could lead to further self-harm and/or infection.
Yes - self harm is about the feeling of an infliction, not necessarily the outcome. While you don't bleed, you're receiving satisfaction from the sharpness or tingle of the scratching. Anything that is fostering a negative outcome, even if mild, is still harmful. While scratching isn't causing a large physical toll, it is reinforcing a negative mentality that will be harder to overcome.
Yes. Anything you do with the intention to harm yourself is considered self harm. Substance abuse is also considered self harm.
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